Skip to main content
Release Date :
Reference Number :
2017-140

Sixty-one percent of the population 15 years old and over are in the labor force

 
The number of persons who were in the labor force was reported at 42.7 million of the estimated  69.6 million population 15 years old and over in April 2017. This placed the labor force participation rate (LFPR) at 61.4 percent, which means that six in ten of the population aged 15 years and over were either employed or unemployed. Central Visayas region had the highest reported LFPR with 67.3 percent while the lowest LFPR reported was in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at 48.2 percent (Table 1 and Figure 1).
 
 

Employment rate registers at 94.3 percent

 
The total number of employed persons was estimated at 40.3 million. The   employment   rate reported   or   the   proportion of   employed  persons to total labor force was 94.3 percent (Table 1).
 
Four of the  17 regions, namely: Ilocos Region (89.6%), NCR (92.8%), CALABARZON (92.9%) Central Luzon (93.3%) and Western Visayas (93.9%) registered  an   employment   rate lower than the national figure (Table 1 and Figure 2). 
 
 

More males are employed than females

 
Six in every ten of the estimated 40.3 million of employed persons in April 2017 were males.  
 
The largest number of employed persons consists of age group 25 to 34 years with 26.5 percent of the total employed. The 35 to 44 age group comprised the second largest group (22.7%), while the 45 to 54 age group made up the third largest group (18.6%).  Employed females were reported at 37.7 percent of the total employed persons (Table 3 and Figure 3).
 
 

More than half of employed persons are in the services sector

 
Although employment in the services sector went down in April 2017, it remained the highest group at 55.4 percent of the total employed.
 
Workers in the agriculture sector posted an increase of 26.1 percent from the 25.5 percent in April 2016. In the industry sector, workers in the manufacturing and construction sub-sector showed slight increase from 8.5 percent to 8.8 percent and 8.7 percent to 8.8 percent respectively (Table 4 and Figure 4).
 
Among workers in the services sector, those engaged in wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles made up the largest percentage with 19.6 percent.  
 
 

More than one-fourth of employed persons are in elementary occupations

 
Across occupation groups, workers in elementary occupations made up the largest percentage with 26.8 percent of the 40.3 million total employed population. Managers followed as the second largest group of workers with 16.3 percent. Service and sales workers came in third with 15.0 percent.  Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers were accounted at 13.5 percent.
 
 

Six in ten of employed persons are wage and salary workers 

 
Employed persons were categorized as wage and salary workers, self-employed without any paid employee, employer in own family-operated farm or business and unpaid family workers. 
 
Wage and salary workers are those who work for private households, private establishments, government and government-controlled corporations and those who work with pay in own family-operated farm or business.  In April 2017, wage and salary workers were registered at 61.3 percent. Those who worked in private establishments made up 48.8 percent and those working in government and government-controlled corporations  were accounted at 7.8 percent (Table 6).
 
Classified according to broad industry group, 61.2 percent of unpaid family workers were in the agriculture sector. In contrast, almost sixty percent (59.9%) of wage and salary workers were in the services sector.  In the agriculture sector, 57.0 percent were reported as employer in own-family operated farm or business, while the self-employed without any paid employee were accounted at 53.3 percent in the services sector (Table 7 and Figure 6).
 
 

More than sixty percent of employed persons work full time

 
Employed workers are classified as either full-time or part-time workers. Full-time workers are those who work for 40 hours or more while part-time workers work for less than 40 hours. Full-time workers comprised 60.8 percent of  the total  employed persons in April 2017.  Those working for 40 to 48 hours made up a larger proportion of 40.7 percent, and 20.2 percent were those who worked more than 48 hours. Part-time workers comprised 34.7 percent of the total employed (Table 8). 
 

Underemployment rate is registered at 16.1 percent

 
Underemployed persons were estimated at 6.5 million in April 2017. This number represented 16.1 percent of the total employed persons. Underemployed persons are employed persons who express the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have additional job, or have a new job with longer working hours.
 
Among industry group, underemployed persons in the service sector were  reported at 44.4 percent, 35.9 percent in the agriculture sector and 19.7 percent in the industry sector (Figure 7). 
 
Visibly underemployed, or those persons who had been working for less than 40 hours a week accounted for 60.4 percent, a large percentage (79.1%) of which were in the agriculture sector (Table 9).
 
 

Unemployment rate reach  5.7 percent   

 
Of the total 40.3 million 15 years old and over economically active population, 2.4 million were unemployed which translate to an unemployment rate of 5.7 percent (Table 1). 
 
Unemployment rates in Ilocos region (10.4%), National Capital Region (7.2%), CALABARZON (7.1%), Central Luzon (6.7%) and Western Visayas (6.1%) were higher than the national figure of 5.7 percent and other regions (Table 1 and Figure 8). 
 
More males (63.7%) were unemployed than females (36.3%). Forty-nine percent of the unemployed persons were in age group 15 to 24 years (Table 3).
 
Across educational groups, 33.5   percent of the unemployed were junior high school graduates, including high school graduates from the old curriculum, 34.3 percent reached college wherein 20.6 were graduates, 6.6 percent were elementary graduates, and 6.2 percent finished post secondary courses (Table 10). 
 
 

Seven in every ten of persons not in the labor force are women 

 
One-third or 38.6 percent of the 69.6 million population 15 years old and over in April 2017 are not in the labor force.  These include housewives, students, persons with disability, and those who have retired from their employment. About seventy percent (69.7%) were women. 
 
By age group, 43.3 percent of persons not in the labor force were in age-group 15-24 years (Table 3 and Figure 9). 
 
 

SUMMARY STATISTICS

 
 
 
  The labor force population in April 2017 was estimated at 42.7 million. This translates to a labor force participation rate (LFPR) of 61.4 percent.
 
  Total employed persons were approximately 40.3 million, resulting to a national employment rate of 94.3 percent.
 
  More than half (55.4%) of the total employed were in the services sector, 18.5 percent were in the industry sector, and 26.1 percent were in the agriculture sector.
 
  Workers in elementary occupations made up the largest proportion of employed persons as they comprised 26.8 percent of the total employed population.
 
  Total unemployed persons were accounted at 2.4 million which translates to an unemployment rate of 5.7 percent.
 
  Underemployment rate was estimated at 16.1 percent. 
 
 
 

TECHNICAL NOTES

 
The Labor Force Survey (LFS) is a nationwide quarterly survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) during the months of January, April, July, and October. For this release, the data being presented are based on the final results of the April 2016 round of the LFS.
 
The reference period used in the survey is the past seven (7) days preceding the date of interview of the enumerator. 
 
The concepts and definitions used in the survey can be found in PSA Integrated Survey of Households (ISH) Bulletins.  Some are given below:
 
a. Labor Force – refers to the population 15 years old and over who contribute to the production of goods and services in the country. It comprises the employed and unemployed.
 
b. Employed – refers to persons in the labor force who are reported either as at work or with a job or business although not at work. Persons at work are those who did some work, even for an hour during the reference period.
 
c. Unemployed – refers to persons in the labor force who are reported as: 
1.   without work; and 
2.   currently available for work; and 
3.   seeking work or not seeking work due to the following reasons: 
i. belief that no work is available, or
ii. awaiting results of previous job application, or
iii. because of temporary illness or disability, or
iv. bad weather, or
v. waiting for rehire or job recall.
 
d. Underemployed – refers to employed persons who express the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or an additional job, or a new job with longer working hours.
 
e. Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) – refers to the proportion of total labor force to the total household population 15 years old and over.
 
f. Employment Rate – refers to the proportion of employed persons to the total labor force.
 
g. Unemployment Rate – refers to the proportion of unemployed persons to the total labor force.
 
h. Underemployment Rate – refers to the proportion of underemployed persons to total employed persons.
 
 
  Starting January 2012 LFS, the codes for industry adopted the 2009 Philippine Standard Industrial Classification (PSIC).  Prior to this, codes for industry used the 1994 PSIC.
 
  Question on vocational course was introduced in the January 2012 Labor Force Survey (LFS) questionnaire. 
 
  Starting April 2016 round, the LFS adopted the 2013 Master Sample Design, with a sample size of approximately 45,000 households.
 
  The 2012 Philippine Standard Occupational Classification (PSOC) was adopted starting April 2016. The 1992 PSOC had been used prior to April 2016 
 
  Starting with the April 2016 LFS round, the population projections based on the 2010 Census of Population and Housing (2010 CPH) was adopted to generate the labor force statistics.
 
  Overseas Filipino Workers are not considered part of the labor force in the Philippines. Hence, in the LFS, data on economic characteristics of household members who are overseas workers are not collected.  For the LFS reports, they are excluded in the estimation of the size of working population, that is, population aged 15 years and older, and in the estimation of the labor force.
 
 
 
 
 

Related Contents

Press Conference on the January 2024 Labor Force Survey (Preliminary) Results

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announces the conduct of the Press Conference on the January 2024 Labor Force Survey (Preliminary) Results on 08 March 2024 (Friday) at 9:00AM.

Unemployment Rate in December 2023 was Estimated at 3.1 Percent

The country’s unemployment rate in December 2023 dropped to 3.1 percent, from 4.3 percent in December 2022 and 3.6 percent in November 2023.

Press Conference on the December 2023 Labor Force Survey (Preliminary) Results

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announces the conduct of the Press Conference on the December 2023 Labor Force Survey (Preliminary) Results on 07 February 2024 (Wednesday) at 9:00AM.